Review: Black Beauty (1994)

Some people seem to think that films with animal characters can't be anything but cutesy froth. These people really need to watch this film.

Black Beauty is a 1994 film based on the 1877 novel of the same name by Anna Sewell. It takes some liberties with the novel, notably by making the animals unable to speak while still leaving Black Beauty as the narrator.

Recognisable actors include:
Jim Carter (Captain Brown in Cranford) as John
Andrew Knott (Dickon in The Secret Garden 1993) as Joe
Sean Bean (Boromir in The Lord of the Rings) as Farmer Grey
David Thewlis (Remus Lupin in Harry Potter) as Jerry
Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who) as Squire Gordon
Alun Armstrong (Inspector Bucket in Bleak House) as Reuben
Eleanor Bron (Miss Minchin in A Little Princess 1995) as Lady Wexmire

You probably already know the film's plot. The titular horse is sold from owner to owner, often being mistreated but very rarely finding a kind owner. Eventually he reunites with his old friend Joe and lives happily ever after. 

No one would think a film about a horse would be utterly heart-breaking, but this one is. Ginger's fate and some of Black Beauty's owners are especially nightmarish 😨 And then there's Black Beauty and Joe's reunion, which always reduces me to a sobbing mess 😭 As both a film on its own and an adaptation of the novel I love it except for one thing. The narration.

For some reason the director decided the horses wouldn't talk like they do in the book. Maybe someone thought it would be silly to see horses "talking" -- though that didn't stop the makers of certain films with talking animals (*cough*Babe*cough*). Instead they had the genius idea of having Black Beauty narrate the film. That might have worked if the narration hadn't been comically overblown. Worse, it often describes what's happening onscreen, as if someone was afraid the viewers might not have been paying attention. The result is as painful as nails on a blackboard. Sometimes I solve this problem by turning the sound down when the narration gets especially unbearable. Other times I just fast-forward the most cringe-inducing parts.

On the bright side, at least the film generally stays close to the novel. That's more than I can say for some "adaptations" of Black Beauty.

Is it available online?: Not as far as I know.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Black Beauty (novel)

Some people have the idea that books about talking animals are solely for children. Those people have clearly never read this book.

Black Beauty is Anna Sewell's only novel, published in 1877 shortly before her death. It's been adapted into at least five films, two miniseries, and several cartoons. She wrote it specifically to make people treat their horses better. (This was the Victorian era after all, when almost everyone owned or hired a horse at some point in their lives, and when standards of how to treat animals were much lower.) Unlike many books written with a specific purpose, Black Beauty actually did improve how horses were treated.

Almost everyone knows what the book is about. It revolves around the title character as he's sold from owner to owner, some of them good and others very bad. Unlike the later "pony novels" that it partially inspired, the story is often bleak and depressing.

What I can't understand is how anyone would think it's a children's novel. Anna Sewell makes no attempt to gloss over how cruelly horses were treated. She wrote to horrify people into improving those conditions, after all, so the suffering caused by brutality (or ignorance, in the case of Joe making Beauty sick) is shown clearly. Nowadays, with laws against animal cruelty, it's hard to believe horses could ever be so badly treated; this book shows a particularly ugly side of history that's often forgotten or overlooked. Yes, children can read it, and should be encouraged to read it, but it's not aimed exclusively at them.

A lot of this book is utterly heart-breaking. Especially the way Beauty and his friends are treated by some of their owners 😭 Even the happy ending makes me tear up!

People who dismiss it as "just another children's book about horses" are missing out on an excellent novel. If you've never read it before, you absolutely should.

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 10/10.